The David Foster Wallace Reader (Paperback)

Staff Reviews

What would David Foster Wallace’s legacy have become if depression hadn’t taken him from the literary world in 2008? It’s one of those impossible questions, of course, but leafing through THE DAVID FOSTER WALLACE READER, you get a full sense of not only the magnitude of his absence, but also the breadth of work he left behind.

People often paint Wallace as a forbidding brainiac—crafter of footnotes and dense sentences—but this new compendium reminds you how limber he was, skilled with different forms and tones. Here, you’ll find the exuberant comedy of THE BROOM OF THE SYSTEM, the anger of BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN, the sad humanity of OBLIVION. Then, of course, you’ll find the nonfiction: classic essays about state fairs and cruise ships, but also never-before-published syllabi from Wallace’s decades of teaching.

Finally, there’s the mind-boggling centerpiece of his career, INFINITE JEST, a novel of astonishing range and tonal complexity, of which THE DAVID FOSTER WALLACE READER presents excerpts. Have you read it already? Relive the experience with these selections. Haven’t tackled it yet? Let these snapshots of Wallace’s masterpiece act as a primer, and let this collection as a whole acquaint you—or reacquaint you—with the work of America’s most important contemporary author.

— Ben

Description

Where do you begin with a writer as original and brilliant as David Foster Wallace? Here--with a carefully considered selection of his extraordinary body of work, chosen by a range of great writers, critics, and those who worked with him most closely. This volume presents his most dazzling, funniest, and most heartbreaking work--essays like his famous cruise-ship piece, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again," excerpts from his novels "The Broom of the System, Infinite Jest, "and "The Pale King, "and legendary stories like "The Depressed Person." Wallace's explorations of morality, self-consciousness, addiction, sports, love, and the many other subjects that occupied him are represented here in both fiction and nonfiction. Collected for the first time are Wallace's first published story, "The View from Planet Trillaphon as Seen In Relation to the Bad Thing" and a selection of his work as a writing instructor, including reading lists, grammar guides, and general guidelines for his students. A dozen writers and critics, including Hari Kunzru, Anne Fadiman, and Nam Le, add afterwords to favorite pieces, expanding our appreciation of the unique pleasures of Wallace's writing. The result is an astonishing volume that shows the breadth and range of "one of America's most daring and talented writers" ("Los Angeles Times Book Review") whose work was full of humor, insight, and beauty.

About the Author

David Foster Wallace wrote the novels Infinite Jest, The Broom of the System, and The Pale King, and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl with Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes Consider the Lobster, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Everything and More, and This Is Water. He died in 2008.